Thank You
by Amethyst Sohma
Summary: Warm-up drabble to get back into writing. Orihime spots a familiar face walking home one night, long after the war against Aizen. Short UlquiHime fluff.


**AN: Ayyyy. Tryna bust out of my 2-year-long writer's block so enjoy this little mindless practice drabble. This isn't related to Just a Mission. I'm still debating if I wanna finish that one since I'm not proud of the subject matter.**

 **And yes, I still write on my iPod so gomen if there's any autocorrect changes I didn't catch.**

Emerald eyes bore into brown. It was enough to make the younger shiver and fidget in nervousness. Though she tried to keep her hands as still as possible at her sides, she found herself wiping the perspiration gathering on them onto her white pants, hoping beyond hope he didn't notice. If he had, he didn't show any indication. What was he thinking? Why was her former captor staring at her like that? Why was he holding her in such an intense and yet so gentle gaze?

A soft breeze rustled the black locks hanging around his face, a stark contrast to his paper white skin. His Hollow mask was gone, and judging from the small glimpse of his chest she was provided thanks to three undone buttons of his shirt, so was his hole. His teal facial markings and black upper lip remained. If she hadn't known any better, if she had never met the man before, she would've said he was a bit... eccentric with his make-up.

A soft clack signaled his step closer. "Inoue Orihime." He spoke with a strange hint of reverence, his deep voice carrying the faintest kindness. He was looming over her, a good few inches taller, and forcing her to tilt her head upwards to meet his stare naturally. His hands remained deep in the pockets of his black jeans. She could see his chest shift with each measured breath, was close enough to feel the slight shift of air brush her skin. Her heart pounded in her chest, her knees felt ready to give, her cheeks warmed with a rush of blood as her eyes desperately moved away to find something to focus on that wasn't the deep green pools swirling with unnamable emotions. She swallowed thickly, words failing to come to her. She needed to speak. She was relieved, happy, confused, nervous... so many more feelings, all over his sudden return to her life, and it restricted her ability to think properly. A pale hand moving toward her face forced a flinch to ripple beneath her skin and her eyes to find their way back to the evergreen traps. Inquisitive fingers lightly combed her hair, stroking through the strands as if weighing them, judging the texture. "You've cut your hair."

"Y-yes." She had thought him dead for over a year. But now he was back by some miracle, and commenting on her hair of all things.

"You've gotten taller." His hand moved further into her hair, fingers curling around a longer lock, ever so slowly moving towards the tips. "And yet. 'You' you remain."

"Uh- ehh - what?" Green eyes flicked from her hair to her glance before returning to the auburn strands slipping over his finger, and the girl could swear she saw the slightest tug of a smile on the corners of his lips. But it could've simply been wishful thinking or the lighting. It was close to dusk after all.

"Nothing to fret over." Vague as ever.

Orihime couldn't resist. He looked so tender, so...soft. Nothing at all like he used to. His stone cold facade was gone, and her hand moved on its own to touch his cheek. This of course drew his attention back to her face, but there was no warning in his features. The girl marveled at how.. warm and smooth his skin was. His inky hair ghosted against her hand as she finally took it in. His existence. His return to life. He was really here and not some vivid hallucination. And he had come to find her in a gigai, or at least that's how it appeared.

Ulquiorra moved both hands to cup her face then, drawing her out of her musings. Her hand moved to rest on his wrist as she continued to hold his gaze. He was leaning closer, closer than anyone ever had. More blood rushed to her face, making her so red she could feel the heat radiating all over. He - that was no way he was gonna - Ulquiorra Cifer himself wouldn't _kiss_ her, would he? His face was only mere inches from hers, their height difference forcing her to lean her head completely back. Amusement seemed to spark in his eyes only for a brief moment before he let out a soft huff. Whether it was one of annoyance, or embarrassment, or something else, she'd never know. Her head was spinning trying to process everything happening at once, but everything came to a still when his forehead met hers, his eyelids slipping shut as he exhaled heavily. Several beats passed before he finally spoke.

"Thank you."

 **AN: Still bitter about how Bleach ended. Thank God for fanfiction and the ability to ignore "canon" and substitute my own reality.**


End file.
